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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277076">In This World (And The Next)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrestenoir/pseuds/agrestenoir'>agrestenoir</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>barefoot in the wildest winter [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste Is Catlad | Stray, Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gun Violence, Identity Reveal, Mariette Dupain-Cheng Is Robin, Secret Identity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:15:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,771</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrestenoir/pseuds/agrestenoir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There are worlds out there where she never left Paris for Gotham, where she fights crime aside a charismatic cat while dressed in red and black, where consequences don’t carry the weight of death. There are worlds where her parents don’t live in fear of riots and broken glass, where their bakery flourishes instead of being bought out by corporations, where they are gray-haired and wrinkled instead of buried six feet down.</p><p>There are worlds where Marinette is not Robin, and Adrien is not Stray, but that is not the story for this time.</p><p> </p><p>(Spoiler: It's a love story, no matter the world.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>barefoot in the wildest winter [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In This World (And The Next)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written based on the prompt by the wonderful, brilliant, and beautiful Muse: "Gotham! Marinette is the newest Robin, and Adrien is Catwoman’s new protege."</p><p>For those who know me, I absolutely despise any ML/Batman iteration, despite the content matter. But it was about time someone made me spite write an AU, and so I put my own spin on this by taking Marinette/Adrien and putting them in the more gritty universe of Gotham. </p><p>Hope you like, and thank you for the prompt, Muse &lt;3 I did enjoy myself!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are many worlds in this big, wide universe. Too many of them for Marinette to keep track of, and <em>damn </em>if she doesn’t try with her little spreadsheets and detailed notes. But even those can’t capture the breadth of every single piece of it all.</p><p>Because there are worlds out there where she never left Paris for Gotham, where she fights crime aside a charismatic cat while dressed in red and black, where consequences don’t carry the weight of death. There are worlds where her parents don’t live in fear of riots and broken glass, where their bakery flourishes instead of being bought out by corporations, where they are gray-haired and wrinkled instead of buried six feet down.</p><p>There are worlds out there where things are different, where she didn’t take up the mantle of Robin in the shadow of Tim Drake’s retirement, where Bruce Wayne never took pity on the assistant from Floor 9, where she didn’t stitch herself another family in the shambles of losing her own.</p><p>And there’s certainly worlds out there where she’s fallen in love with the nameless son of some famous fashion designer instead of with the stupid boy who steals jewels from rich socialites.</p><p>There are worlds where Marinette is not Robin, and Adrien is not Stray, but that is not the story for this time.</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>“He’s a menace.” Marinette’s voice is hard and bitter. It doesn’t leave room for argument, but Bruce still finds a way to poke holes in it.</p><p>“He’s your boyfriend,” comes the prompt response from the World’s Greatest Detective himself as he studies case files at his desk.</p><p>“That’s a moot point,” she barks back, a hot flush slowly climbing up the sides of her neck. For all the separation Bruce preaches between their hero and civilian lives, Marinette believes that should extend to personal relationships and all the aforementioned teasing that comes with it.</p><p>From his spot across the room, typing away like a madman at his computer, Tim Drake snorts. “I <em>still</em> can’t believe you didn’t know who he was—”</p><p>“Excuse me,” she calls out, pink dusting the tips of her ears now. “But we can’t all learn Batman’s identity when we’re twelve—”</p><p>“Nine.”</p><p>“Oh whatever.” Marinette will concede defeat at this point, but she isn’t happy about it.</p><p>With a sigh, she throws herself across the couch in Bruce’s study where they’ve all gathered for pre-patrol check-in. Often times work is kept strictly to the Bat Cave but slowly she’s taken to migrating wherever Bruce is—which is, frankly, the story of every Robin he takes on—and Tim was soon to follow. It’s a quiet Thursday evening, just the three of them, and she’s finding out that she definitely prefers this to the crowded weekends that come with the addition of the rest of her brothers, sister, and friends of the family.</p><p>(Not that she doesn’t love the entire family, but Tim and Bruce were the ones who took a chance on her—<em>took her in</em>—and they will always retain a precious spot in her heart.)</p><p>“I’m just saying,” Marinette presses on. “He needs to learn to make better choices.”</p><p>“That’s what I’ve said about all of you kids,” Bruce says tiredly. “And no one ever listens.”</p><p>“Because you’re the enabling parent,” Tim sings over the top of his laptop. His eyes never leave the screen. “Alfred has the strict thing <em>down</em>, so you’ve gotta succeed somewhere I suppose."</p><p>Bruce doesn’t respond. There’s only the shortest pause, a brief moment of silence, before he flips open another case file. The action alone speaks volumes.</p><p>“So what am I supposed to say to him?” Marinette muses, tapping her foot against the leg of the desk chair she’s seated on. She drops her chin in her hands and lets her thoughts take her faraway. “Can I really just go on pretending like I don’t know he’s Catwomen’s protégé?”</p><p>“You could tell him. It wouldn’t really make a difference.” Bruce’s voice is soft. Marinette isn’t used to hearing such a tone from him. “Selena already knows.”</p><p>“But you always talk about keeping our identities a secret,” she tells him. “Because it keeps us safe.”</p><p>Bruce simply sighs, refusing to meet her gaze. “That’s my choice, but at some point, you kids have to make your decision.” He flips the folder close and moves onto the next one. “You’re smart, Marinette. I trust your judgement with this.”</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p>In this world, Adrien Agreste is Stray. This is what Marinette knows.</p><p>Before he was born, his parents came to Gotham as his father had gone into business with an American tech company, and there was little to do but follow the path to whatever fame the Agreste family desired. Adrien was born into a privileged percentage, nothing too extraordinary, but enough to be satisfied with what life had to offer for the first ten years of his life.</p><p>And then his mother went missing, his father lost his money, and suddenly he was the only thing keeping his remaining family afloat. If it hadn’t been for Selena, Marinette doesn’t know what would have happened to her boyfriend. Gabriel—his nonexistent father—works odds and ends to pay for the rent and whiskey, while Adrien handles everything else. From what she’s gathered, Gabriel doesn’t ask where the money comes from—so long as it just <em>keeps coming</em>.</p><p>Marinette wishes there was something she could do: have Bruce cover the Agreste’s expenses, help find Emilie Agreste, consider offering Adrien a part-time <em>legal</em> job. But she also knows that Adrien will never accept aide. Catwoman’s offer was the only one he ever considered, and it’s the reason he stays.</p><p>There’s no denying it. Adrien is <em>good</em> as Stray. Fast, wicked smart, reflexive, <em>limber</em>… He makes the perfect cat burglar.</p><p>(…She wonders if he’d ever trade those claws in for wings.)</p><p>But at the end of the day, no matter how much she loves him, he’s still a criminal while she’s a hero. If she were anyone else—if this were any <em>place</em> else—she would turn Adrien in to the police and wipe her hands off this dark page in her story. There are better boys out there, and she figures she should at least be the one child that Bruce will never have to worry about.</p><p>(But in this world, where she is Robin and Adrien is Stray, they do not live in Paris. Good and evil are not black and white but rather shades of gray colored outside the lines. There’s no clear path to their identities and desires, their reasons and purposes, their truths and worth.</p><p>In this world, there is just Marinette and Adrien and how much they love each other.)</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>Stray is at the museum tonight. Adrien is <em>here</em>.</p><p>Robin closes the lid of her portable computer with a snap, hands shaking. The lights go out as planned, the amateurs who are <em>trying</em> to rob the place panicking in response. And she’s forced to watch from the sidelines, trapped in the security room while Batman and Red Robin make quick work of them, as Stray simply leaps out of the shadows and heads toward the exhibit, seemingly invisible to the rest of the chaos erupting around him.</p><p>Something terrible pushes its way up her throat. She doesn’t want to see Stray <em>hurt</em>.</p><p>“B,” she says into her earpiece, eyes trained on Stray’s dark form on the video screen. “Stray’s here.”</p><p>Batman’s response is quick and tinny. “Here?”</p><p>“Affirmative.” She still can’t believe it. (God, the universe must be having a joke at her expense.) “I’m gonna intersect him.”</p><p>“No. Stay out of here.” And <em>there’s </em>the Batman she knows.</p><p>Even though he can’t see her, Robin is already shaking her head. “Sorry, we’re losing connection. Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble.” She clicks her communication offline, an action worthy of Nightwing for her audacity, and leaves the security footage with a virus to erase all known traces of their presence tonight.</p><p>Dashing down staircases and through twisted alcoves, she wonders if Adrien knew that Robin would be there tonight. If he has ever once suspected Marinette of being the Girl Wonder. He can’t, of course, because Batman spends his life hiding their family’s tracks. But Adrien has been in her life for four years, and it seems like a travesty that he isn’t privy to this part of it all.</p><p>This last great divide between them… between Robin and Stray… she wants to close it.</p><p>When she gets to the exhibit off from where Batman and Red Robin are fighting, she finds Stray poised near a glass case. The artifacts aren’t something she really cares about—just ancient jewelry from some nameless time period. But they must be worth it to Stray if he decided to brave the battle and sneak in when everyone’s concentration was centered around something else.</p><p>Robin looks at Stray, and now that she really <em>sees</em> him, she tries to find Adrien amidst the black suit. He’s just a boy, eighteen and fearless, dressed in dark Kevlar and nylon. Fake black cat ears are nestled in his wild blonde mane. There’s goggles over his piercing green eyes, shaded even in the darkness of the museum, but if she knows her boyfriend at all, they’re crinkled in the corners with the excitement of a looming adventure.</p><p>“Stray,” she finally says, enjoying the startled surprise that erupts across his face. “What do you think you’re doing?”</p><p>He turns on his heel and spots her. His grin is Cheshire-wide. “Little bird!” he greets with a flourished bow. “Didn’t expect to see you at this shindig!”</p><p>It’s different now, Robin thinks, knowing he’s Adrien. Because she ca nsee her boyfriend in Stray’s smile, and it makes her heart pang pitifully in her chest. She’s always wanted to protect him from the horrors of Gotham: let him feel safe, give him the love his father never would, never let that smile turn bitter. </p><p>“You have to <em>leave</em>,” she hisses, stalking towards him with clenched fists, body shaking in panic. “The police are coming, and we don’t need another reason to have to defend you from Gordon.”</p><p>“Ah, come on, Tweety Bird.” Stray isn’t even looking at her, too busy perusing over the display to disarm the security system. “I’ll be in and out, and no one will even know I was here.”</p><p>“<em>I’ll </em>know you were here,” she whispers lowly, though he still hears her.</p><p>He whirls around to face her, his smile thinning out. “You’re gonna try to stop me? Thought we had a truce in place.”</p><p>“That’s not the point,” she argues. “And we can’t call it a truce if you’re blatantly stealing things in the middle of <em>someone else’s </em>heist.”</p><p>“Newsflash, little bird.” Now his voice is raspy, like it’s been pulled too taunt and strained. “I do what I have to do to survive. Me not fighting you right now is a luxury.” When she makes a move to interject, he grabs her wrist in an iron grip. “If I didn’t need the money right now, I’d let it <em>go</em>.”</p><p>And then—gunfire.</p><p>Robin thinks about the amateurs in the other room, the ones Batman and Red Robin are fighting. Even if they’re beginners, new faces in Gotham with twitchy fingers, they’re always the most dangerous with the guns. They don’t have a purpose: no art to their aim, no poise to the way they point. They just shoot to get away.</p><p>She looks at Stray—her Adrien—for a long minutes and imagines a world where he could be another Jason. There are certainly worlds out there where Adrien Agreste dies, alone and in pain on a museum floor in the name of family, but that is not this world, and that will not be today.</p><p>So Robin reaches forward, grasps his wrist in a tight hold, and whispers one word to him: “<em>Run</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>Marinette gets shot because that’s the kind of dumb luck she has.</p><p>On the rooftop of the museum, she presses a wad of cash into Stray’s hand at the same time she presses a hand to her abdomen to stop the bleeding. Red splatters onto the stone beneath her feet, plops and puddles coalescing into every stupid mistake she’s made that night. All she can hear is Bruce’s voice in her head, low and angry: <em>you should’ve stayed behind, you should’ve stayed safe, you should’ve let him go, you should’ve left him behind</em>.</p><p>But then she looks at Stray, who ignores the money, and reaches for her wounds to press his own shaky hands over it. “Hold still, little bird. I-I’m calling for help.”</p><p>The world shifts, all grainy and bright. Her heart feels funny in her chest, like it’s too big for her body to contain. There’s not a world that exists where she’d ever leave Adrien behind.</p><p>Sirens erupt in the distance, casting the city awash in shades of blue and red. Marinette gathers what little strength she has and pushes against Adrien’s hip urgently.</p><p>“You need to run,” she whispers hoarsely. “Just <em>go</em>.”</p><p>“I’m not leaving you here to die, Robin.” His expression hardens into glass, diamond cut edges ready to scar anyone who tries to break it—including her. “I’m calling Batman.”</p><p>“Adrien, <em>please</em>.” His name spills from her lips like water from a breaking dam. There’s no force on Earth that could stop it.</p><p>And then he peers over and really looks at her. She doesn’t know what he sees but it’s enough to make him sway on his feet.</p><p>With a mouth full of broken glass, he asks, “Marinette?”</p><p>Her vision darkens, a spotlight of muted color, and then she’s alone in this dull world.</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not your fault.” Bruce’s voice guides her through the dark hours later the first time Marinette throws off the final dredges of anesthesia.</p><p>Nausea threatens swallow her whole. God, she hates emergency surgeries. Worst part of being a vigilante honestly.</p><p>“It should’ve been me.” Adrien sounds strangled. She wants to kiss the breath back into him. “How is that not my fault?” She feels his hand leave hers, fingers trailing a wildfire up her arm until they rest against her ribcage, feeling the slow rise and fall of her chest.</p><p>“You know what she’s like.” Bruce laughs like it’s a joke—like he didn’t just almost lose another child. “Always stubborn, always willing to help those who need it. There was nothing that would’ve stopped her from taking that bullet.”</p><p>“Not even your multi-millionaire Kevlar?”</p><p>Marinette can hear the smile in her father’s voice. “Not even that.”</p><p>“She’s just your everyday hero, I guess.” Adrien’s hand drags through her cropped dark hair, brushing sweat-tangled waves out of her face. “It’s why I love her.”</p><p>The two let the silence linger, and it makes Marinette want to smile. Bruce, who’s so accustomed to saying too little, and Adrien, who’s accustomed to the quiet of a broken family—two old souls finally connected through their love of one dumb girl. Oh how she <em>loves</em> them. She knows that Bruce will blame himself for what happened, the same way that Adrien will never let himself forget it. And when she’s better, it’ll be her job to forgive them both so that they can begin to forgive themselves.</p><p>This is not a world where Marinette will ever truly be alone.</p><p>In another world, perhaps Adrien would be dead instead. Or perhaps Bruce would’ve been bit by the bullet. But these are impossibilities that no one can measure, a pool of what-ifs she won’t bother to consider. Because right now, she is in a world where she is loved, and she won’t spend her time worrying about something else.</p><p> </p><p>*</p><p> </p><p>In the silence between heartbeats, long after Bruce has left, a tired Marinette flashes her boyfriend a strained smile through pale, cracked lips. “I love you too,” she whispers to his slumbering face. “I’ll love you no matter who you are.”</p><p>In another world, Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Chat Noir, and they spend more of their life fighting to be apart longer than they are together. But in this one, they are open to love as both have spent most of their lives losing it.</p><p>In neither world will they ever choose to reveal their true identities, open and honest about who they are under the masks from the very beginning. But in this one, at least, they find their way together regardless. There is still danger, still pain and heartbreak, but they have each other and that is enough.</p>
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